Kemala’s foot tapped impatient until she realized the habit broke free of her iron will. It promptly fell to stillness. Regardless, she siphoned the energy of restlessness into watching a bird diving after its breakfast. It plunged beneath the surface of Lake Baikal in one dark swoop, swinging upward with a tail of water streaming down after it.
The sight of a predator snatching its breakfast reminded her of her own empty stomach. Tea was the extent of her sustenance that morning, but the warmth it infused long ago dissipated. Her hands were in her pockets, fingertips already icy, when the looming Northman emerged.
She fell into step alongside him, but for all their difference in height, she was no less diminished for it. If anything, he should feel strangely self-conscious for the bizarre stretch of his skeleton.
“Good morning to you, too,” she rebuffed. Kemala wasn’t always the chattiest, but she did demand to be treated with civility.
“I have my own food for when I need it,” she said, thinking of the bars and breads in the bag, but as she thought back to the hawk, she realized she could catch and cook her own fish anytime she wanted. Whether or not she offered to share would depend entirely on Soren’s behavior throughout the morning, she thought wryly.
The sight of a predator snatching its breakfast reminded her of her own empty stomach. Tea was the extent of her sustenance that morning, but the warmth it infused long ago dissipated. Her hands were in her pockets, fingertips already icy, when the looming Northman emerged.
She fell into step alongside him, but for all their difference in height, she was no less diminished for it. If anything, he should feel strangely self-conscious for the bizarre stretch of his skeleton.
“Good morning to you, too,” she rebuffed. Kemala wasn’t always the chattiest, but she did demand to be treated with civility.
“I have my own food for when I need it,” she said, thinking of the bars and breads in the bag, but as she thought back to the hawk, she realized she could catch and cook her own fish anytime she wanted. Whether or not she offered to share would depend entirely on Soren’s behavior throughout the morning, she thought wryly.